A moment!

Did you ever have a moment! One that you will never forget? Like a dream come true?

Well, a couple of my highlights in life... the day I married Daisy... (best woman in the world), the day Maria was born... unbelievable!!., and the day I looked down at my monitor and saw the attached image.

To make a long story short, this bird was underneath me on a rock face out of sight, Niagara Falls, Ontario.., summer of 2008. It lifted off and flew to the falls, catching the updraft. Once it was well above the falls, it banked and turned, like Jimmy Johnson at Bristol this past weekend!! The falcon took a dive, and headed right across in front of me.

I am guessing the bird was travelling about 110 kms per hour... and as it was approaching me I was frantically trying to get a lock on it with my D300. Hoping!! The bird was moving so fast I knew I could not keep up with it while looking through the view finder, so I moved the camera and lens away from my head, and tracked the bird by following it at an arm’s length.

Blazing away at 8 fps, and hoping like crazy, I figured, no way this bird could be in the frame, and in focus... Immediately looking through the burst of images, this one was the best., and holy smokes, I cannot explain the feeling I had.

The funny thing is, there were hundreds of people around me. The walkway at the Falls has so much traffic in the summer time, 98% tourists from around the world. I would say that within 100 feet of me, there were at least 250 people on that sidewalk... I had a tear in my eye, and not one of them had any idea what had just happens... imagine!

So, this was a cool story to share, and my dream is to have such an experience again. 400,000+ frames since I started photographing wildlife, and this moment takes the cake!

Wish you well, take care.

(please click on the image for the full size)

I have a 1920 wide-screen image for everyone who emails me... ray@raymondbarlow.com